Mix Up Cocktails with Spirits Designed by Bay Area Bartenders

Most liquor bottles lining back bar shelves are as much products of marketing departments as they are of distillers. But, increasingly, bartenders are applying their real-world expertise to develop new spirits.

The principal bartenders at Bar Agricole (and forthcoming Trou Normand, opening this month) have flown to France twice, working with distillers there to create full barrels of young Cognac, Armagnac, and Calvados brandies. The spirits are custom diluted to their specifications at high proofs for use in cocktails. Meanwhile, at Smuggler’s Cove, owner Martin Cate tackles rum, a barrel of which he helped distill, proof, and age in 2011 with three of his customers, whose faces appear on the label. He also created a private reserve blend of El Dorado rum for house cocktails, such as the Jet Pilot, Chadburn, and Grog.

It’s common for chefs to partner with local farmers and butchers to develop specialized ingredients, and now some bartenders and restaurant owners are collaborating with distilleries on customized blends. DOSA owner Anjan Mitra turned to his friend Davorin Kuchan, a distiller at Belmont-based Old World Spirits, to create an exclusive gin that’s infused with Indian spices, including black peppercorn, anise, and curry leaves.

“We want to be able to offer something special to our guests,” says bar director Brandon Clements of Bacchus Management Group (Spruce, Café des Amis, Village Pub, Pizza Antica). He’s on their third seasonally inspired gin. The first two were made by St. George Spirits, and the latest is a cardamom- and coriander-heavy blend from Sebastopol’s Spirits Works Distillery, which he uses in drinks such as the Greater New York cocktail at Spruce.